New York Jets Training Camp Preview: Offensive Line

As July comes near an end, NFL football moves closer and closer. In the coming days, NFL training camps will begin as teams will begin preparing for the 2015 season. For teams like the New York Jets, training camp will be extremely important as they have a new regime in place with Todd Bowles replacing Rex Ryan as head coach. The Jets are also starting to get some expectations, as they made some big upgrades to their roster, adding weapons offensively and bringing back some familiar faces on the defensive side of the ball. All of this has caused some optimism for Gang Green, making them a team to keep an eye on throughout training camp.

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While there may not be many training camp battles per say, there are still plenty of things to keep an eye on. Here at Empire Writes Back we have you covered, as we will give a position by position, or unit by unit, preview leading up to training camp beginning July 29th in Florham Park, New Jersey. The fifth position we will be taking a look at will be offensive line.

Current Depth Chart:

Starters: RT Breno Giacomin, RG Willie Colon, C Nick Mangold, LG James Carpenter LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Backups: Ben Ijalana, Oday Aboushi, Brian Winters, Jarvis Harrison
Potential Cut Candidates: Dakota Dozier, Brent Qvale, James Brewer, Wesley Johnson

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The New York Jets have an offensive line that seems to be on the decline as a whole. For the second straight season, they signed a Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman to try and get the unit back on track. After signing Breno Giacomin last offseason, this season they signed former first-round draft pick James Carpenter to shore up the left side of their line.

D’Brickashaw Ferguson has been declining in production, and it will be fair to question of Carpenter will be able to help much. He is an upgrade over what they have had used in recent seasons, as the Jets haven’t had a great LG since Alan Faneca, but how much of an upgrade? He certainly will be in pass protection, as he allowed zero sacks last season according to Pro Football Focus. But, on the season, he rated as the 47th ranked guard in 2014, in large part because of his lack of production in the run game. He will have to become more consistent there for the Jets to get their moneys worth from him after signing him to a four-year, $19.1 million contract.

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While the Jets offensive line can be underwhelming at times, there really isn’t much competition that will be had in camp. Four of five positions are locked up, leaving right guard as the one spot that will generate a lot of chatter. Right now Willie Colon is the starter as he is the returning player. But, it is no sure thing that he will remain there as camp goes on, as Colon isn’t even working on a guaranteed contract. He was signed for the one-year veteran’s minimum and can be cut without penalty at any time.

If Colon is replaced, the two players most likely to do it are Brent Qvale and Brian Winters figure to be his biggest challengers. Winters was a third round pick in 2013, making this a make or break camp and season for the third year player. He has struggled in his career thus far though, surrendering 11 sacks in only 18 starts. He needs to improve on that or else he will find himself on the street as a free agent sooner than later.

Oday Aboushi could find himself pushing at RG as well, as he worked at both guard spots during the spring. James Brewer comes with some experience after being signed away from the New York Giants, but was mostly a bust there. The Giants offensive line has had as many problems as any unit in the NFL the last few seasons, so the fact Brewer wasn’t able to get a hold of a position means his status for the 53-man roster is tenuous as best.

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While this unit has some name power in Ferguson and Mangold, and they have spent in recent offseason to upgrade, this unit has some work to do. While the Jets finished third in rushing, that was essentially a mirage. The passing game wasn’t very solid, and when the going got tough for the Jets offensive line, such as in the red zone, they wilted. On the season, the Jets averaged only 2.2 yards per carry inside the 20’s, ranking 26th in the NFL. That is an area that should be improved with the other additions the Jets made to the offense more than what they did to upgrade this unit.

Overall, this unit will still be a solid one for the Jets, but they have to start grooming younger players to start taking over guys starting to become long in the tooth such as Ferguson, Mangold and Colon.

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